At independence, democratisation of access to education became one of the key policy priorities of the new government. Accordingly, government embarked on a massive expansion of education facilities. Government invested heavily in this sector and this resulted in a phenomenal increase in enrollments. Primary education was made free to enable children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to attend school as well. By 1990, most of the quantitative expansion of the education system has taken place and focus changed to improvement of the quality of educational provision.
In spite of the massive expansion of the education sector since independence, access, equity and quality of educational provision continue to persist. Access to education is still restricted amongst children from low socio-economic backgrounds, farming areas and other remote parts of the country. Furthermore, rural district council day schools tend to be poor, whilst high-fee-paying private schools have superior facilities and staff.
To illustrate the issues of equity, access and quality of educational provision in Zimbabwe, Dr. Nherera made a specific reference to the Early Child Education and Care (ECEC). He pointed out that ECEC was not included in the massive expansion of educational facilities that took place soon after independence. However, notable progress has been made particularly in rural and communal areas. The provision of ECEC, however, remains voluntary and it is not a prerequisite for pupils starting formal primary school. Most of the ECEC centres operating in Zimbabwe are not registered with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and statistics regarding the number of centers, enrollments, staffing and funding tend to be unreliable, hence statistics show that access remains extremely limited.
Dominican Convent school
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